Deal Nears to Clear Mobile Home Park

After 10 years of waiting, tenants and homeowners in the Driftwood Beach Club Mobile Home Park soon may be presented with a final relocation plan.

The park on Pacific Coast Highway stands in the way of the Waterfront Development, a large project proposed by Newport Beach’s Robert Mayer Corp. that includes a 516-room resort hotel, conference center, residential complex and another hotel to be built in the future.

City Council members approved a tentative agreement Monday that offers to buy out the remaining 102 mobile coaches for a total of $6.5 million, with another $2.8 million in early move-out incentives and other costs.

The document is preliminary to a final settlement agreement, city officials said.

“This is an important step for us in development of the Waterfront project,” City Administrator Ray Silver said.

Negotiations for the project and the relocation of mobile home residents began back in 1988.

Georgie Pulliam, president of the park’s homeowners association, said the residents have yet to see the offer. While the majority of residents will likely be satisfied, Pulliam said, “I don’t think anybody will be jumping up and down for joy.”

“We have people who have been here since the 1960s and they love it and don’t want to leave. But I think everybody is at the point of accepting the inevitable.”